HOUSTON—A 42-year-old Sugar Land man has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction for possessing and distributing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Chad Michael Cole pleaded guilty Sept. 3, 2015.

Today, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ordered Cole to serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months in federal prison. He will also be required to serve eight years of supervised release and must also register as a sex offender.

The charges arose following a June 2014 undercover operation during which an online user shared 27 videos depicting child pornography with an FBI agent. An investigation into the IP address associated with the videos led law enforcement officials to an address in Sugar Land. Authorities executed a search warrant at that location which was determined to be Cole’s residence, at which time they seized a custom desktop computer. Forensic analysis led to the discovery of approximately 269 videos and 205 images of child pornography.

At the time of the search, Cole had been employed by Logos Preparatory Academy in Sugar Land where he taught junior level physics and an occasional third grade computer class.

Cole has been and will remain in federal custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The charges are the result of a collaborative investigation conducted by FBI, Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office and Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Wirsing, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”